Little Mai
by Jayde-Ann
Summary: Nishiyama Mai, an absolute innocent, adorable, lovable, ridiculously silly seven year old girl, mothered by a young woman whom is an agent of Easter Corporation. For an unknown reason, everyone must observe and keep a close watch on the young Nishiyama. Although for Mai, all she's worried about is finding her true love, matchmaking Amu, annoying Hikaru, and enjoying her ice cream.
1. Chapter 1

×Chapter 1×

"Ikucchi! Ikucchi! Where are you Ikucchi?!" I cry, crawling around on the floor, desperately looking for my best friend, Ikuto Tsukyomi.

He's nowhere to be found. I cannot find him in the closets, the halls, the bathrooms, yes, I opened the door and called out his name, but hey I'm only seven! Oh! And I'm searching around in the office that he and Utau are always in.

I huff and plop back on my heels, crossing my arms over my small chest. "Ikucchi, why won't you come out?"

Usually, Ikuto is here, or if not here he's out by the riverbank, but Mommy has already refused to let me go out there alone while she's at work. Right now, she's working to find the…What's it called? Embryo! Yeah that's it, whatever an Embryo is.

The door to the office opens and in walks Mommy, she's wearing her business outfit, a black dress suit as she calls it. "Mai, get off of that floor, you'll get dirty."

"But Mommy!" I whined. "I can't find Ikucchi anywhere!"

Mommy sighs and runs a hand through her dark pink hair. "Ikuto is not here Mai."

A scowl forms on my face. "Baka Ikucchi! You left me!"

"Come on Mai, we've got to head home."

I climb to my feet and stamp one on the floor, clenching my fists at my side as I begin to pout. "I won't leave without seeing Ikucchi."  
"Mai―"  
"I want my Ikucchi!" I sniffle, tears pricking the sides of my eyes, the tears always work against Mommy.

Utau appears beside Mommy in the doorway, a small smile on her lips. "Will I be enough?"

I swipe at my eyes with the backs of my hands and run to Utau. "Utaucchi!"

She crouches down to my height and pats me on the head, ruffling my pink hair. I giggle when she plants a kiss on my forehead. "Now, you've got to go home, okay Mai?"

"Okay!" I grin toothily.

Utau stands to her full height and grabs my hand. "Want me to walk you out?"

"Yep!"

I skip past Mommy, my tiny fingers wrapped tightly around a few of Utau's fingers. Utau is another one of my best friends, except, she's more than just that to me, she's like the big sister that I wish I had.

At first, she saw me as a nuisance just like Ikuto, but after they learned I wasn't going away anytime soon because Mommy works for Easter Corporation. To be truly honest, I thought that when we arrived here we'd be greeted by the Easter Bunny! I was disappointed when we were greeted by an old man.

Utau pushes the door open for me and her, I walk right through. I know how popular Utau is and I don't want to ruin her image by looking like an idiot. As we walk down the steps, I see a figure sitting at the bottom of them and I immediately know who it is.

"Ikucchi!" I shout, gaining his attention and I wave at him, a big grin spread across my face.

We walk to Ikuto and I give him a big hug. "You left me Ikucchi! I looked everywhere for you!"

"Apparently not everywhere~ Nyan~"

"Yorucchi!" I smile, patting him on the head; I do it gently since he's so little, much more littler than me.

I don't know when I started seeing these little guys, but I just saw him following Ikuto one day and grabbed his tail, and he screamed in pain. Ikuto had to explain to me that he was a Guardian Character and that they felt pain too.

I had to release Yoru and say that I was sorry. For a few weeks, he was afraid of me, but now we're best friends.

"You could have led me out here Yorucchi." I say.

He just grins as he floats in the air. "Mommy, can we stay a bit longer now that I've found Ikucchi?" I ask, giving her the puppy dog look, but she doesn't look like she's going to give in like she usually does.

Mommy shakes her head. "We can't stay here Mai, my work day is done. You'll have to wait until later on this week to meet up with Ikuto and Utau."

"Mommy, you can forget Yorucchi!"

I would mention Iru and Eru, but I hardly ever see them, unless when Utau lets them out before a concert and they're arguing. I feel bad for Eru, she deserves to be used just as much as that troublemaker Iru.

"Whatever." Mommy says, walking past us.

"Bye Ikucchi." I say, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Bye Utaucchi." I give her a hug. "And finally, bye Yorucchi." And I blow a kiss up at Yoru.

I jump down the rest of the steps and land right in beside Mommy's car. I skip to the back door and pop it open, crawling inside and shutting it after I sit down. I give one last wave to them, but I don't think they can see me through the tinted glass.

"Buckle up." Mommy says.

I pull the seatbelt across my body and buckle up, kicking my legs back and forth as Mommy pulls away from the Easter Corporation building. I won't be able to see them until Thursday when Mommy gives her report to her boss.

But then again, I can still have fun since Yoru visits me all the time when Ikuto or Utau can't be around. I grab my sketchbook from beside me and flip open the pages, staring at the well-drawn pictures of Utau and Ikuto, and some with all three of us. One even just has Yoru and I together, him sitting in my palms.

"Mommy, do you think I'll ever get a Guardian Character like Utaucchi and Ikucchi?" I ask, staring at the picture with Yoru and I.

"I don't know. It depends." Mommy says, her blue eyes glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

I close the book and set it down in my lap, still staring out the window. I can see it, having a Guardian Character around me to keep me company and make me feel better when Mommy was busy.

"I can't wait until I see Yorucchi tonight." I say.

"What?" Mommy asks.

"Nothing!" I giggle.


	2. Chapter 2

×Chapter 2×

Mommy pulls a brush through my hair as I sit on her lap, wearing my school uniform, happily humming to myself; I'm humming one of Utau's songs. One that she sang to me when it was just us two.

"So, Mai, what are you going to do in school today?" Mommy asks.

I shrug. "I don't know, we don't do a whole lot, well in my opinion."

Mommy laughs as she sets the brush down and puts my bow in my hair. I slid off her lap when she finishes and do a spin, giggling. "Thank you Mommy."

She smiles and stands, grabbing her keys and purse. "Come on, let's go."

My smile falls. "Mommy, can I go see Ikucchi and Utaucchi with you?"

"Absolutely not." She says firmly, making me flinch.

I hang my head and grab my pink messenger bag, pulling it onto my shoulder and trudging to the door. As I reach for the knob, Mommy mumbles something about, competition. "Mommy?" I ask, turning to face her once more. "Who are you competing against?"

Her eyes widen, but she shakes her head and they return to normal. "No one Mai, now hurry up before you make me late."

I nod and open the door, walking outside into the warm morning. Not to my surprise, Yoru is floating by the car waiting for me, which means that today Ikuto was going to pick me up after school today.

I wave slightly as Mommy locks up.

As we sit in the car, I have Yorucchi sitting on my lap taking a cat nap, which makes me giggle because it's a funny joke. Mommy pulls up in front of my school and I carefully place Yoru in my bag, leaving it slightly open so he can breathe. "Bye Mommy." I say, opening the door and climbing out the car.

Mommy drives off when I close the door and back away from the curb. I look over my shoulder and see other students walking into the building. The thing is, I don't really wanna go to school yet. But Mommy wants me to, and Ikuto will pick me up too.

So I turn around and head to school.

Afterwards, I stand outside the school, waiting for Ikuto to come pick me up, but no one comes. "Where is he?" I whine.

"Must be running late~" Yoru says.

I puff out my cheeks and look around. Ikuto is never late when he picks me up, that's Mommy's thing. Then I realize something. "What if Ikucchi's in trouble and I need to help him?!" I gasp.

"You're imagining things~ Nyan~"

"Liar." I say, turning away, and glaring at the road ahead.

I keep walking, ignoring Yoru telling me to stay there; I don't want to stay there. I look both ways before running out into the street. "Mai!" Yoru cries.

"Not listening!" I call back.

There's a loud honking and I stop, looking again, a car coming towards me. My knees buckle and I can't move, my body won't budge. I'm stuck there in fear of what lay next. "Mai!" Yoru cries again.

Something grabs my wrist and yanks me back, out of the street, and I fall to the ground, atop of something soft. My eyes are still wide as I watch the car zoom by, the driver obviously not too happy with me.

"Careful kid."

When I look over my shoulder, I see a girl dressed in uniform, shoulder length pink hair, gold eyes, and she staring right at me. I wrap my arms around her neck, crying.

I'm scared, I should've listened to Yoru, even if he is gone right now. The girl hesitantly pats me on my back and then says, "Want some ice cream."

That cheers me up some.

The girl's name is Amu Hinamori, but I decide to call her Amucchi. I'm sitting on the bench, waiting for Amu to come back with our ice cream. I'm really thankful that she was passing by when I was in trouble, otherwise, I wouldn't see Mommy, Ikuto, Utau, or Yoru and Yoru would be in big trouble for not taking better care of me.

Amu comes back, carrying two chocolate ice creams and I take one from her, smiling. "Thank you." I say.

"No problem."

I sit back and start to lick to cold substance, shivering each time I do so. "So, what were you doing all alone?" Amu asks.

"Ikucchi was supposed to come pick me up, but he was really late, and he's never late. So I thought he was in trouble, but Yorucchi said I was imagining it, so I got angry and left to find him and that's when the car thing happened." I say, looking down, feeling bad for getting mad at Yoru.

Amu gives me a strange look, but suddenly seems to understand and goes back to her ice cream. "So, where's your mom?"

"Mommy hardly ever takes me home after school, she's always working hard. And I don't wanna be a bother to her." I say.

"I doubt if she sees you that way."

"But she doesn't like it when I talk about Ikucchi or Utaucchi, or even Yorucchi."

Amu doesn't respond. I continue with my ice cream, getting it all over my face. So, Amu left to go get napkins for me. While waiting, I hear someone say, "Yo, Mai."

I look up and see Ikuto sitting in a tree, Yoru right beside him. "Ikucchi!" I cry, jumping to my feet.

He puts a finger to his lips and watches as Amu comes back. "What're you staring at Mai?"

"Nothing." I say, looking at her smiling.

She raises a brow, but doesn't question and starts to wipe my face, and I whine slightly in the process, I hate having napkins rub against my face, it can hurt!

"There, all done." She says, throwing the napkin away.

I stand up and smile, grabbing my bag. "So, do you need someone to take you home?" Amu asks.

"Nope, I think Ikucchi knows where to find me."  
"O…Kay. Well, see you some other time Mai." Amu says and waves, walking away.

When she's out of sight, Ikuto is standing beside me. I reach for his hand and slowly wrap my small fingers around his. "You're late Ikucchi." I say.

"Sorry, I got mixed up in something."

I look up to him and meet his eyes, and I smile. "You missed it though, Amucchi saved me from getting hit by a car."

Ikuto shoots a glance at Yoru who laughs nervously. "It's not Yorucchi's fault, I got angry and left him. I'm sorry Ikucchi, Yorucchi."

Ikuto ruffles my hair and I close one eye as he does so. He turns around and crouches down and I jump onto his back, throwing my arms around his neck, smiling. I guess that means that all is forgiven.

Even as I start to drift to sleep on Ikuto's back, I still wonder, when and where will I ever get to see my new friend, Amu again. I smile as I close my eyes. Maybe the next time, I can introduce her to Ikuto, Yoru, and Utau.

And just like that, I'm asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

×Chapter 3×

Today, Mommy drops me off at daycare. She says that this time she'll be back to pick me up. Yesterday, Mommy flipped when Ikuto brought me home and said I almost got hit by a car. She was really angry when she saw that Ikuto was with me though, and though he was at fault.

Right now, I sit at my table, coloring, sitting next to my best friend, Alice Amai. I call her Alicecchi though. I think it sounds really cute, especially when I think Alice is really cute. She has light brown hair with black highlights with long curls that goes down to her knees, dark chocolate-brown eyes, and a light brown skin tone.

She's really pretty. And she has Guardian Characters too! She has Amai, an angel Chara with a white dress that covers her feet with long brown hair that passes her ankles and a halo. She also has a demon one too, Horonigai, she has light brown hair that doesn't pass her shoulders with a dark red dress with white horns. The good thing I can say is that Horonigai is ten times nicer than Utau's Chara, Iru.

"That looks really pretty Alicecchi." I say, staring at her coloring book.

Alice has an interest for heroes, and she likes to call herself one. Even though, I'm the one taking care of her since she's younger than me, but I don't tell her since I'm nice like that. "Thank you Mai." She smiles at me, and I giggle.

It's really convenient that her parent's work at Easter too. Although, it surprised me that she didn't get disappointed when there wasn't an Easter Bunny. "Hey Mai, you wanna go play now?" She asks me, closing her coloring book.

I did promise earlier that we'd spend time doing my favorite thing, art, and then go on to her favorite thing right before we left. "Okay." I say, closing my notebook and sliding out of my chair.

Alice giggles and quickly jumps out of her chair, running around the table and grabbing my hands, pulling me outside where the other daycare staff member was, she was watching the other kids play around.

I'm not one for running around a whole lot, but I love making Alice smile, and plus if I don't she might just throw a fit and I hate it when she does that, because then I have to give in and I think I know how Mommy felt.

I smile and press my hand against Alice's arm, giggling. "Tag!" Then, I take off in another direction.

"Hey!" She laughs, running after me.

Since she's runs around a lot more than me, I got caught fairly easily, and it was my turn to chase after her, both of us giggling as if we were on a sugar rush. I tag her in the back before turning in another direction and running off.

Alice is running after me still, probably getting tired, just like I am. She runs really fast. I catch a glimpse of pink hair and I stop, Alive crashing into me and the two of us falling onto the ground, whining how much it hurt.

We slowly untangle ourselves from one another and I'm lucky to find that Alice is not hurt, I hate seeing her hurt. The tears in her eyes make me cry when she's hurt. But, I wince in pain as I look down to my palms and knees.

My right knee is bleeding and dirty, while my palms sting and they're dirty as well. "Are you okay?" Amai asks me, floating above Alice.

I look to her Guardian Characters, who stare worriedly down at me, along with Alice. I slowly nod, fighting back the tears, it really, really hurts. I can't let Alice see me cry though, otherwise I know she'll get upset and keep apologizing.

"Mai?"

I look over to the gate in front of the daycare and spot Amu standing right there, leaning against the gate, staring down at me. "Are you okay?" She asks.

Again, I nod. "Y-yeah, I'm a big girl, it doesn't hurt." I say.

Amu looks around before, climbing over the gate and walking over to me. For a moment, I don't see anything, but then I do. Amu has Guardian Characters too! "Amucchi, you have Charas!" I exclaim, pointing at a pink Chara beside Amu. "Whoa, she can see you?" Amu asks.

"Some can, maybe she has a Chara that will be born soon." She says.

"Who're you?" I ask, ignoring my pain.

"I'm Ran!"

"She's a pain in the neck, that's what." Amu says.

I giggle, Alice joining me. "This is my friend, Alicecchi." I say, pointing at Alice.

"Hello." Alice says, grinning.

"Hi." Amu says before looking back to me. "Now, let's get you a Band-Aid."

I nod.

We all go to one of the staff members and she cleans me up then bandages me up. Then Alice, Amu, and I all go back outside. Daycare is over by now, and Alice and I have our bags, standing outside, waiting to be picked up with Amu next to us.

"Ne, Amucchi, the next time we see each other, I want you to meet Ikucchi. He's really nice and he takes good care of me when Mommy's not around. So does, Utaucchi. But Mommy doesn't like them." I say.

"Hm, why not?"

I look at Alice and she's talking to her Guardian Charas, so I look back at Amu to answer. "Mommy says that they're competition, but I don't know what she's talking about. Just like, what's an Embryo?"

"Eh?" Amu raises a brow. "I don't know if I heard about that before."

She looks a bit nervous though. "Is it a snack or something? I mean, I ask Ikucchi what it is, he won't say. Then I ask Utaucchi, she ignores me. And Yorucchi changes the subject. And, any Mommy, she just glares when I ask." I say.

Amu opens her mouth to respond, but instead, I hear Mommy's voice, "Mai."

I look to the gate and Mommy's standing there, her hand on her hip, glaring at me. "Coming! Bye Amucchi, Alicecchi!"

I run to the gate, unlocking it and closing it behind me. "Hi Mommy, how was work?" I ask.

"Don't ask." She says.

"Sorry." I say, following her to the car, then climbing in.

While buckling up, I ask, "Can we see Utaucchi, Ikucchi, and Yorucchi today?"

"No, we're going home. My boss is coming over for dinner and you'll need to be in your room."

I groan and hang my head, then say, "Yes, Mommy."

I want to see Ikuto, Utau, and Yoru. Of course, being with Amu and Alice would be nice to. So I start to smile as I think about my plan for tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

×Chapter 4×

I'm surging with absolute joy as I skip through the halls of Easter. Today's the second day out of the week that I get to come to work with Mommy. She really didn't have time to take me to school and didn't want Ikuto or Utau taking me, so she decided to take me today.

Not that I mind, I'm really happy that I'll get to see my friends three times in one week. I wish Alice or Amu were here though, but Alice has to go to school and so does Amu.

So, here I am, skipping around, searching for Ikuto or Utau, but I cannot seem to find them anywhere. I assume that they're out running errands, but that's probably not it. After all, if they are, Yoru would be here to watch me while Mommy's busy.

I stand there in the hall, unsure what I'm supposed to do. If no one that I know is around to play with me, then what do I do? I turn on my heel and start back down the hall, going back to where Mommy had told me to wait at.

That room is really boring though, all I get to do is sit there without so much as a television to entertain me. I mean, I'd watch the History Channel if that was all there was to do! I'd even try hard to read one of Ikuto's high school level books, even though I'd fail. I'm pretty smart, but I wouldn't even figure that out.

As I arrive at the door of the room that I'm supposed to be in, I catch a small glimpse of a door further down the hall. That room, it's a room that Mommy has always told me never to enter, that it was the head of Easter's room.

I've never once even seen him; it makes me wonder what he looks like. I look around before jogging to the door down the hall, standing before it nervously. I don't know whether or not I should enter. What if he's really busy and I interrupt what he's doing?

I look around again. I really want to know what he looks like, but Mommy always tells me that curiosity killed that cat, but I'm not a cat. So does it really matter? I grab the doorknob and my heart is pounding in my chest. I then hear footsteps and voices coming down towards this hall and I quickly turn the knob, push open the door, and close it softly behind me.

The sound of my heart beating is all that I can hear, I could not even hear the sound of someone talking to me.

I look to the desk in the middle of the room, a boy with blond hair and blue eyes, and an emotionless look on his face. "Huh?" I ask when my heartbeat slows.

"Who're you?" He repeats in a tone that matches his expression.

I place a hand on my chest and smile widely. "I'm Mai Nishiyama, Mommy works here, her name is―"

"Rimiko Nishiyama." He finishes.

"How do you know?" I ask, blinking.

"I'm the one who's going to run the company." He says.

I walk over to his desk, walking around it and looking him up down, before stopping right in front of the desk. "But, you're only a kid…Like me." I say.

He turns the back of the chair to me. "I'm not like you.

I giggle and walk around to face him again. "You never told me your name."

"Why do I have to tell you?" He asks.

"…Because, I wanna be friends with you." I say.

He just stare blankly at me. I sigh and lean forward, pushing the sides of his mouth upwards, making him smile. The look is so weird, that I laugh. He pushes my hands away and turns around. "Go away."

"You haven't told me your name yet!" I shout, giggling.

"If I tell you, will you leave?"

"Yeah!" But I have my fingers crossed.

"Hikaru Ichinomiya."

I skip around the desk and show him my crossed fingers. "Sorry Hikacchi, but I lied."

Hikaru just stares blankly at my fingers. Then, the door opens, and I gasp, jumping over and ducking underneath the desk. "Ah, Hikaru, you're still here?"

Hikaru glances down at me, but I give him pleading eyes and put a finger to my mouth. So he just looks back up. "I got you this."

He grabs a stone from the man, but Hikaru takes a look at it and tosses it away. I almost gasp. It was such a pretty stone, it shined in the light of the room and looked like someone dusted glitter on it. "I don't want it."

The man sighs and footsteps lead away, then the door shuts. I climb out and grab the stone from the floor and dust it off before standing and holding it back out to Hikaru. "Hikacchi, you should take it, it's a really pretty stone. Just look at how shiny it is."

He turns his back to me. I stare sadly at the back of his chair before stuffing the stone in my back pocket of my shorts and walk to the door, holding it open as I stand in the doorway. "I'll just keep it until you want it." I say, before smiling over my shoulder at him. "See ya again Hikacchi!"

I step out and shut the door behind me. I tip toe down the hall and enter the room I'm supposed to be in. Ikuto is sitting in the armchair. "Ikucchi!" I cry and run, jumping at him.

He catches me easily and sets me on his lap, a soft smile on his lap. "Guess what Ikucchi, I made a new friend!"

"Hm, really?"

I nod and press my forehead against him, giggling. "He doesn't show a lot of emotion and acts like he doesn't care, but I still really like him."

"More than me?"

I shake my head, grinning. "I can't, because I wanna marry Ikucchi when I get older!"

Ikuto chuckles at my words, and ruffles my loose pink hair, today I decided not to wear it in a bow. "By the way, Ikucchi, where did you go today?"

"I had work to do."

My mouth forms an 'O' and he shakes his head, a smile on his lips. It's one of his cool smiles, one that's not really real. I do the same thing that I did with Hikaru, and Ikuto raises a brow at me, confused as to why I'm doing it.

"Smile Ikucchi! I giggle, but he still stares at me strangely.


	5. Chapter 5

×Chapter 5×

"Uwaahh! You have two too Amucchi!" I exclaim, pointing at the blue Guardian Character floating aloft beside Amu.

"EH?!" Amu shouts, dropping to her knees in front of me, and starts to shake me. "You can see her too?! I though it was just luck with Ran!"

"Y-yeah, I can see other people's Guardian Characters too!" I shout, though my voice is shaky.

The blue character appears beside my head when Amu stops shaking me. "How do you know about Guardian Characters?" She asks.

"Well, Ikucchi has one, Utaucchi has two, Alice has two, and Mommy works with lots of them!" I grin, throwing my hands in the air.

"Ikucchi? Utaucchi?" Amu asks.

"They're my best friends; I've known them almost forever. They're older than you though Amucchi." I point out, and she just raises a brow coolly…Ah, Amu and her cool and spicy attitude.

Amu stands up coolly flipping her shoulder length pink hair over her shoulder. "Does age really matter?"

"…Maybe." I say, and grin at her shocked expression, I totally caught her off guard. "Just kidding!

She composes herself with a bored expression on her face. "Oh really?"

"Yep!" I grin.

Amu rolls her eyes. She's so silly. "By the way, you never told me her name." I say, pointing at her Guardian Character.

"I'm Miki." The miniature girl says shyly.

"I'm Mai!" I smile.

"How is it that you get along with her better than me?" Amu asks, gold eyes flickering between me and Ran.

"I don't know, maybe it's because I'm better than you!" I smirk.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Get over here!" Amu shouts, and begins to chase me.

I squeal with delight and run away from her. "Run Mai-Chan! Run!" Ran cheers me on, and I giggle.

I stop outside the entrance of the park and stick my tongue out at Amu. "You can't catch me!"

"Get back here!"

My laughter stops when I trip over my feet and fall to the cement with a loud thud. My heart seems to jump into my throat as I stare blankly at the road ahead, trying to realize whether it really happened or not.

A stinging pain spreads throughout my knees and hands, and tears sprang to my eyes. "Mai!" A voice cries out, and it's Alice.

I struggle to sit up with the pain racking through my knees and palms. I toss my head back and cry, it hurts so much! "Mai!" Amu, Miki, and Ran cry, and before I know it, Amu's helping me up.

"I-it hur-hurts!" I sob, holding out my hands, and my knees shaking from pain.

Alice pats me on the head. "Don't cry Mai." She says with a wide grin, but I can't smile back at her, all I can do is cry.

"I want Ikucchi!" I cry.

If Mommy were here, I'm sure she'd be really angry about the fact I'm calling for Ikuto and not for her. Tears roll down my cheeks that are probably stained with dirt. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Amu says, and picks me up in her arms, carrying me away to the bathroom in the park, Alice holding onto my sleeve to reassure me that she wasn't leaving.

People stare with pitying looks as Amu carries me through the park, but I'm in too much pain to mind. When we get to the bathroom, Amu sets me on the counter, turning on the water behind me. She grabs paper towels, and wets them.

She begins to dab at my skinned knees, cleaning the dirt, and I howl in pain, wriggling and screaming for Ikuto to come and get me, because right now, I want nothing more than to curl up in his arms and him to tell me that I'm gonna be alright.

"It's okay Mai, you'll be alright, just a bit more." Amu says soothingly, and my cries turn into sniffles as I bite down hard on my lip, squeezing Alice's hand to the point I'm afraid I'll break it.

She reaches into my bag and pulls out some bandages, I've never been more glad that I carry those with me everywhere. "When you get home, you need to have someone put ointment on it and bandage it up again." She says as she finishes putting on the bandages.

I sniffle and throw my arms around Amu's neck, hugging her. Amu hugs me back. "See? That wasn't so bad."

"Your so cool Amu." Alice says, staring up at Amu in admiration.

I giggle and wipe my eyes with the backs of my hands, trying not to hurt my palms anymore. "I wanna go home." I tell Amu.

"I can take you."  
"I can walk by myself."

"Aw, I wanted to play." Alice whines, but I just stare.

I'm too tired to play now, I just want to go home and go to sleep. Amu puts me down and I walk out the bathroom, sniffling still. Nobody is looking anymore and I run out of the park, well aware of the cracks in the cement so I won't trip.

Just as I reach the outside of the park, I bump into someone. "G-gomen!"

"Why the tears Mai?"

"Ikucchi!" I cry and jump into his arms.

"Did you get hurt? Did someone hurt you?" He asks, anger evident in his tone.

"I fell." I admit. "Amucchi helped me, Alice too…"

Ikuto presses his forehead to mine. I blinked, and stared at Ikuto. Had I actually worried him by crying out like that?

"I'm fine, see Ikucchi?" I ask, stepping back and spinning around and waving my arms.

"Weird~Nya~" Yoru says, and I glare.

"Meanie."

He just smirks. Ikuto tosses me in the air and catches me in his arms. "Alright, let's get you home and cleaned up Mai. Your mom will be home in a bit and I'll be dead meat if she sees you're hurt."

"Meow." I mew sadly.

Ikuto chuckles and takes a leap forward, I smile. I'm not in a joyous mood for giggling. "Ne, Ikucchi, after I get cleaned up, can you keep me company until Mommy gets home?"

"We'll see."  
"It should be a yes, because I'm gonna be the future Mrs. Ikuto Tsukiyomi!" I giggle, and a smile spreads across his lips as he and Yoru exchange glances.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: You know what, if Mai was an actual character in the Shugo Chara series, I'd want her to be voiced by Aoi Yūki. ^^**

×Chapter 6×

Today, I get to go back to Easter. There's no daycare, no school, and Mommy can't keep me locked up at home forever, especially when she's going to start catching on that I sneak out more times than none.

That means, I get to see Hikaru! I can't wait to see my new friend, I haven't seen him in forever! "You seem excited…As usual." Mommy says.

"That's because I am! I get to go see my friends today Mommy!" I smile toothily.

Mommy rolls her eyes and turns back to the road. I've got my sketches in my bag, and I've even made Hikaru a bracelet, a friendship bracelet. It's blue since it'll match with his hair, way better than my pink one.

As soon as the car pulls up to a stop in front of the Easter Corporation building, I throw open the door and run up the steps. An arm shoots out to stop me , Ikuto's arm. "Whoa, where you going to so fast?" He asks.

I try to run through his arm. "Almost…To…Door!"

Ikuto laughs at my failing attempts to pass through his solid and picks me up, holding me in his arms. "Ikucchi!" I grin and hug him around the neck.

"So, now I'm noticed?"

"Sorry Ikucchi, I have to do something really important." I say, kicking my legs back and forth, slightly knocking against his waist.

He chuckles. "Well, I guess I'm in your way, huh?"

I shake my head, pink bangs flopping into my eyes, and I giggle. "You're never in my way Ikucchi, because I'm gonna be your wife when I get older!"

Ikuto ruffles my hair. "We'll see."

"You always say that." I pucker my bottom lip out in a pout.

"It depends."

"On what?" I ask.

"Come on Mai." Mommy says, brushing past Ikuto.

"I guess our future marriage will have to be a secret one." I whisper, and he chuckles.

Ikuto sets me down on the ground. "Well, I have some work to do. Have fun Mai."

"Okay! Good luck Ikucchi!"

He winks at me before walking down the steps. "Oh yeah, Hikacchi!" I shout in realization that I almost forgot about him.

I race up to the floor that Mommy usually leaves me on, and dart past my usual room to the room in which I last saw Hikaru in. "Hikacchi!" I shout happily as I throw open the door, and he's sitting there, looking bored in his chair.

"Don't you ever get out to play?" I ask, my shoulders sagging.

"There's no need. Now leave, you're bothering me."

I huff and stomp my way to his desk, slamming my small hands on the wood, wincing in pain from the impact. "I won't leave because I'm Hikacchi's friend! I made that clear last time, right?" I ask.

"I never agreed to it."

"But…I even made you a bracelet." I say, my voice slowly turning into a whisper as I look down at the blue bracelet in my hand.

It was neatly threaded, and it even had in white letters: Best Friends. "What?" He asks, leaning over the side of his chair.

"I made us friendship bracelets, yours is blue and mine is pink."

Hikaru turns away from me again. I walk around the desk, and hold out the bracelet to him. "If you don't want it, you don't have to keep it." I say.

I'm kind of afraid that he'll do just like he did that rock, throw it away like it's garbage. Surprisingly, he yanks it out my hand and ties it tightly onto his wrist. "Your face is annoying when your upset." He says, still no emotion on his face.

I smile, and swipe at my eyes, removing any tears that brim in my eyes. "Do you wanna play with me Hikacchi? Since, Ikucchi isn't here and I don't know where Utaucchi is?"

"I said I'd wear the bracelet, not _play_."

"Too darn bad." I say, grabbing his wrist and yanking him out of the chair, dragging him to the door to the room.

"Let me go!" He shouts, angry.

I shake my head. "Hikacchi, don't make me slap a hand over your mouth. I've done it to my cousin before…Now, when I tell her to shut up, she does."

He just stares silently at me, but I can tell he's seething with anger. I push open the door, and look up and down the hall, nobody. "Shhh." I tell Hikaru.

Hikaru just rolls his eyes. I pull him down the hall, past my usual room, and to the elevator. Just as we reach it though, it dings, so I race to the steps, pulling open the door and pulling us both inside. I sigh and start to giggle. "What's so funny? You almost got caught kidnapping me." Hikaru says.

"I'm not kidnapping silly, I'm saving you from certain doom of becoming a person with gray hair before you even hit sixty!" I laugh, and Hikaru stares at me, like someone does when you tell a joke and someone doesn't get it. "Come on!"

I pull him along down the steps. To be truly honest, I'm super glad that I'm wearing my pink hearts converse; blue overall shorts, and pink t-shirt, because if I were wearing a dress and flats, I wouldn't make it.

"Almost there." I whisper.

"You're going to get in an unlimited amount of trouble for kidnapping. Arrested perhaps."

"Please, I'm seven, your my friend, we're going out to play, and Mommy works here."

"Kidnapper."

"It's Mai, Hikacchi."

"No, until you release me, it's Kidnapper."

I stick my tongue out at him. I'm not really kidnapping him am I? I mean, he's not struggling, and he doesn't really ever get out…Wait, I'm only seven, what do I truly know about kidnapping? "You know what…No one asked for your kidnapping opinions." I say to him, and he narrows his eyes at me and raises a brow.

I push open the door at the bottom of the stairwell, no one's around. "When I say run, run…Run!" And we take off across the lobby, and I'm giggling.

"I thought you said to be quiet."

"Well, we're almost outta here, what's the point?"

Hikaru just stares at me as usual, but doesn't say a word. I smile at him and kick open the front door to Easter Corporation and we waltz right out. I kind of think it was too easy for us to sneak out, if these guys really need Hikaru, why didn't they call a search party to find him?

I skip down the steps, Hikaru right behind me, his hand still in mine. We run to a park, and sit down on the bench for a while, I'm out of breath. The only way I can tell that Hikaru is tired too is the small little droplets of sweat rolling down his cheeks.

"You want some ice cream Hikacchi? I can buy us some." I say, pulling out some money from my messenger bag.

"I would like to go back."

"I see…I can take you then. I just wanted to play a bit…"

"Listen, I―"

I plant a soft kiss on his cheek, and he shuts up. "But you know, I had fun escaping Easter with you today. So, all is forgiven."

He places a hand over his cheek and stares at me. "Don't ever do that again."

"Why? Is it because your embarrassed of being kissed?" I ask, grinning mischievously.

"No."  
I smirk and kiss his other cheek, and a few passerby's go, "Awww." He stares emotionless at me, but I know he's angry with me. "Stop that."

"How about…" I plant a kiss on his forehead and jump down off the bench, smiling. "…There."

"I should have you arrested for that and kidnapping."

"Suuuure."

Hikaru slides off the bench and follows me out of the park. When we get back to Easter, Mommy scolds me, but wraps me in a hug and tells me how worried she was. I smile, and hug her back, winking playfully at Hikaru, who turns away to talk to a man.

After Mommy drops me off at the room I'm supposed to be in, Ikuto shows up to play. "So, I heard you escaped with someone."

"Yep, and guess what?"

"You kissed him on the cheeks and forehead?"

"Ikucchi? Were you spying on me?"

Ikuto acts wounded. "I was looking out for you and you cheat on me."

I giggle and jump at him, hugging him. "You're the only one for me!"

_Or, at least I think you are…_


End file.
